January 10, 2006
The other morning Bill read me a story in the paper
about a building at Sutter and New Montgomery
that was restoring these finials all around the top of the roof
There was a photo showing the new great tall skinny golden spires at all the corners
which are apparently replicas of some things that was there when the building was built
but were removed at some point for whatever reason
It was easy enough to figure out what building it is
the one on the corner I walk by every day
with the jewelry store
and the little market with the manic woman working there
and the new gym
all in the bottom
So I wanted to see these finials
and when I walked to work that morning
I actually remembered to look
and could get just a tiny glimpse of them
when I was crossing the street the block before
but then all the other buildings intervened
and the building in question is really too tall
to see the top of from the sidewalk in front of it
And I had to report back to Bill sadly
that I hadn’t really been able to see them
But then yesterday I’m leaving work and walking up Second
and I do that thing city dwellers do every once in a great while
I look up
And there they were plain as could be
silhouetted against the soft gray glowing sky
and looking pleasing as hell
Because you see
you can see the back of the same building from the opposite direction
even though it’s a couple of blocks away
there’s really only one building in between
the bank with the roof garden
and it’s is much shorter
and with the funny angles of all the streets coming into Market right there
you happen to get a clear shot
from practically right in front of my office
Which was unexpected
What’s more
it turns out to be a building I’ve admired many times from the back
from Market Street
for its already ornate roofline
without ever knowing it was the same building I walk by every day
on the other side
with the jewelry store and the market and the gym
So there you go
image source is here
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